


Last Night On Earth

by atomjenkins



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, also some other characters are mentioned but only briefly, fluff but with kind of a bittersweet ending i guess, idk i have feelings about these kids, obligatory 2/2 fic, this is very messy lolllll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:35:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24613876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomjenkins/pseuds/atomjenkins
Summary: “Stay.”He's said it before he can stop himself. It’s not commanding or authoritative – quite the opposite, it’s choked and feeble, his voice hoarse – it’s an involuntary, instinctive cry for help and he knows it.Akechi must know too, he thinks, because the detective pauses on his way out of the café – and stood there in the doorway he suddenly laughs, the hollow sound echoing around in the crisp evening air.---Akechi and Ren spend one last night together. [Persona 5 Royal third semester spoilers]
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 98





	Last Night On Earth

“Stay.”

He's said it before he can stop himself. It’s not commanding or authoritative – quite the opposite, it’s choked and feeble, his voice hoarse – it’s an involuntary, instinctive cry for help and he knows it. Akechi must know too, he thinks, because the detective pauses on his way out of the café – and stood there in the doorway he suddenly laughs, the hollow sound echoing around in the crisp evening air.

“I beg your pardon?” he says, not even looking back at Ren.

Ren balls his hands into fists, nails digging into his palms, and fixes Akechi with a determined stare. “Stay.” He repeats, and it’s stronger, clearer, more assured now, though Ren notes it’s still not without some small hint of desperation, which makes him wince internally, because surely Akechi must notice _that_ too.

Akechi turns his head slightly, looking back at Ren through locks of chestnut hair, his gaze scrutinising. “And spend my last night alive with you?” He says, though his tone isn’t overly cruel, surprisingly, it’s more…curious, inquisitive. Or perhaps Ren is merely imagining it; hearing what he wants to hear. Given the world they live in, that seems a frighteningly real possibility.

Ren nods. “If you would like to.” He adds, as an afterthought, before cursing at himself mentally for leaving it so open-ended when he’s sure Akechi would take the option to walk away – and because he’s not sure how to cope if that were to happen, if he were left alone with his thoughts tonight.

Akechi sighs and fiddles with his gloves thoughtfully for a moment that seemed to last a long time – the silence becoming a yawning chasm between them, interrupted only by the burble of nightlife outside and the hum of the fridge – before giving a small smirk and saying; “Well, I suppose there’s nowhere else I need to be right now.” He steps inside Leblanc again with a renewed energy about him. “What did you have in mind?”

Ren released a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. “Just…” he gestures vaguely at the booth he’d just been seated at.

“Coffee?” Akechi supplies, a little snidely.

“That.” Ren says, grateful for the chance to collect his thoughts. Before Akechi can change his mind Ren is already behind the counter – he’s made coffee so many times now it’s an automatic process, he moves smoothly and steadily from one step to the next without even thinking, appearing completely composed on the exterior – but both his mind and heart were racing, the words exchanged mere minutes ago still echoing around in his head, the thoughts drumming insistently against the sides of his skull.

In the early days of the Phantom Thieves – Kamoshida, Madarame and so forth – Ren had spent the nights leading up to the Palace infiltration making coffee much like he was doing now. But the things he’d spent the time thinking about in the tense night before the heist had been things like who was best suited to being in the starting line-up and rehearsing strategies and missions over and over in his head so they’d be perfect on the day. With Sae’s Palace it had been making sure all the pieces were in place to make sure he didn’t die. With Shido’s it had been thinking about not getting discovered in the real world and making sure his team was ready for what he thought – what they all thought – would be the Phantom Thieves’ final mission. And with the depths of Mementos…well, he’d not really had time to stop and think about the enormity of the situation there, which was probably a good thing given his tendency to generally think too much about everything.

But now, with Maruki…it was different. He was powerful, obviously, but so were the Phantom Thieves. They had gone from exposing a perverted gym teacher to shooting a god in the head; expanded from three misfits and their cat to a dedicated team with unbreakable bonds between them. They had faced power before and Ren had no doubts in the strength and capabilities of his team when it came to beating it. No no, they would surely win…but this was the first time Ren had ever had doubts about _wanting_ to win. They changed the hearts of criminals and got them to face the justice they had evaded – but not all distorted desires arose from evil intentions, they knew as much from Futaba. He supposed it was possible, perhaps even likely, that with all the people in Japan, or even the world, who must have Palaces, that some of them – even if it was only one – would have distorted desires that could be…dare he say it, beneficial?

He frowned and shook his head, scolding himself. He shouldn’t think like that – bringing into doubt everything they’d done up until now would help no one. And he believed in their justice, why was he questioning that now? He just supposed…the Phantom Thieves had always helped people before. People could question the legality or morality of their actions all they liked, but the fact remained that lives were saved because of the Phantom Thieves. Society became better, even if it was only one pervert or fraud or mafia boss behind bars – it was justice.

But now, society was perfect. And therein lay the problem.

Ren sighed deeply as the coffee brewed. Perhaps he was just being selfish – after all, if there was nothing to be improved in society, if no one lived in fear and needed courage, then really, what was the point of the Phantom Thieves? Maybe he just wanted to cling to that so badly he was allowing it to cloud his judgement. He had pulled all of his friends out of their happily ever afters and soon the rest of the world would follow them, back into a world that was cruel and harsh and uncaring and unjust. If the Metaverse didn’t exist in that reality was there even any hope for improvement in the future? Was he just–

“You are thinking too loudly.” Akechi suddenly said, causing Ren to jump and nearly spill scalding coffee on himself. “And you’re taking too long with my coffee.”

Ren gritted his teeth and kept his eyes focused on watching the rising level of the coffee pouring from the jug into the two prepared mugs. He could feel Akechi’s gaze burning into him as he headed over and set the mug in front of him, before he took a seat on the opposite side of the booth from Akechi.

“I hope you’re not doubting your decision.” Akechi said casually, taking the mug and blowing away some of the steam rising from the hot liquid. His gaze, still lingering on Ren, was intense – despite the surprisingly relaxed tone of his voice.

Ren frowned and drew his own cup of coffee close to himself, watching the steam rise. Perhaps, he mused, all this talk of whether or not society as a whole benefitted from Maruki’s change of heart was dancing around the issue. The fact was that Ren rarely thought – even in his times of deep concentration the night before a Palace infiltration – about what really changed after the change of heart. And he supposed, until now, that was probably because he’d never really stood to lose anything before. Even the couple of times he’d thought he’d be on his last Phantom Thieves mission, it hadn’t felt like this – all cold and sorrows. All he could think about was that this time tomorrow, when this was all over; Maruki defeated, Treasure stolen, Akechi would be…

“No.” Ren said, finally meeting Akechi’s eyes. A moment passed.

“Good.” Akechi said flatly, taking a sip of coffee before continuing. His gaze still burned intensely. “It would be disappointing if you had lost your nerve now.”

“I haven’t.” Ren said, as if saying it aloud would somehow make it true.

Akechi narrowed his eyes. “So why am I here? There’s nothing further for us to discuss.”

Ren clenched his fists. “Don’t you think we need to talk?”

“About what?” Akechi shrugged dismissively. “You’ve told me what you intend to do. I’m satisfied that you will follow through on that.”

Ren blinked at him in disbelief. “You’re going to _die_ , Akechi.”

Akechi’s expression hardened. “Thank you for reminding me. You are also going to die, eventually.” He said callously. “Being in the unique position that I am, having died once already, you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s not even all that bad. Being written out of existence, however?” He took a long sip of coffee and swilled the liquid around in the cup. “Hmm, I’m not sure what that’s like. Still, not too long before I’ll be able to find out – oh, but I won’t be able to report my findings on the matter to you, unfortunately – my sincerest apologies.” Placing his mug back down on the table, he gestured to Ren’s untouched coffee. “Your coffee is growing cold. It was one of your better brews, too.” He said coolly.

“Are you…” Ren stared at him incredulously. “What’s the _matter_ with you?” He said without thinking, more out of shock and frustration at Akechi’s complete disregard for the seriousness of the situation than anything. When he saw how Akechi flinched slightly at the abruptness of his tone, he instantly regretted it.

“Nothing is wrong with me.” Akechi said, his gaze shifting to look past Ren, a sickeningly distant look in his eyes. “Did you expect me to be upset? Did you think I would come here weeping my eyes out and begging you to please let me stay in this… _wretched_ reality?” He practically spat the last words, his eyes now focusing on Ren with the same dark, feral look they had in the Metaverse. “What would crying and moping like an idiot accomplish except to make you doubt the decision you’ve made? It’s true, I have no desire to die.” He continued. “But my desire to live is far outweighed by my desire to be _free_. I cannot live a week, a day, barely a _moment_ longer in this world knowing that I am only here because someone else – ” he glared at Ren furiously, “ – _dictated_ that I be here. So, my apologies, but if you expected me to come to you on my knees pleading for you to take the easy way out of all this – then you are an even bigger imbecile than I thought. And if _this_ ,” he jerked his hand towards their coffee mugs, then the rest of Leblanc, “is your way of trying to talk yourself out of the decision you made then I wish to play no further part in this. You _will_ change his heart. Reality _will_ return to how it was before.” He’d leant forward as he’d spoken, his gloved hands balled into fists. Now, he took a deep breath and leant back in his chair again, his gaze dropping to the table in front of him.

Ren watched him for a moment, then set his mug aside to lean across the table slightly, elbows resting on the tabletop. “The choice I made…” he sighed. “…it was difficult, I won’t deny that.” Akechi seemed to grumble something under his breath but Ren ignored him. “But I’ve made a promise to you. I won’t go back on my word.” He said firmly.

Akechi sighed deeply, fiddling with his gloves again. “I…I know that.” He said, with a strange fondness in his voice – the rough and bitter edge taken off. “I…trust you…despite it all.” Akechi laughed at that, at the plain absurdity of what he’d said, and Ren smiled for much the same reason, before Akechi’s expression turned melancholy again. “But I…I don’t understand you at all. Even now, I _still_ don’t understand you.” He laughed again, but it was an empty sound – confused and choked. “I thought…I mean, I can’t comprehend _why_ this decision would be…difficult. Your friends all stand behind you. They’re willing to give up their perfect little lives in order to help you. Surely that would be the only thing standing in your way…so why?” He shook his head in frustration. “Why was _I_ Maruki’s final attempt to stop you? His… _trump card_?” He snarled the words. “Why would my life mean anything to you? I’m not even _part of your team_.”

“You are now.” Ren said firmly.

Akechi laughed scathingly. “Sure I am. Tell that to Futaba-chan and Okumura-san next time you see them.” He said, and Ren detected traces of a slightly wistful tone beneath the sarcasm, before he went quiet for a moment, deep in thought. “I still don’t understand you though. Why are you dwelling so much on this? Even if we’re…’teammates’…I thought you would be…happy.”

Ren stiffened. “Happy?”

Akechi lowered his head, talking more to his clenched hands than to Ren, his speech coming out mumbled. “We are rivals, are we not? And you get to defeat your rival not once, but twice. You must be very pleased with yourself, stringing your victory along like this.” He said, not once meeting Ren’s gaze.

Ren frowned, staring at Akechi almost agape with disbelief. “Are you serious?” he said, his voice shaking. “I…It’s not like that at all! Didn’t you hear what Maruki _said_? I…I was upset about how things ended up between us and…and I could tell you were too. Of course you were, otherwise you wouldn’t have…” He shuddered, thinking of the engine room – of the sickly feeling that had brewed in his stomach and spread through his entire body when he’d heard the gunshots on the other side of the bulkhead door; of the hollow, cold ache that had settled in his chest and panged in his heart whenever his hand had brushed against Akechi’s glove, still in his pocket – and involuntarily he thumped his fist against the tabletop, his movement so sudden Akechi jumped and stared back at him.

“You said yourself…if only we could have met a few years earlier, things would have been different. And like you said, that was just a hypothetical, but…this reality, it’s the closest thing we have to actually living that hypothetical. That’s why I…well, I didn’t know it would actually _happen_ , but that’s what I thought when…” He trailed off into silence, unclenching his fist, which had been balled so tightly his nails had left little white marks where they’d bitten into the palm of his hand. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, feeling hot tears beginning to well up behind his eyelids. _Why?_ He wasn’t used to being so emotional – he was calm and collected, the composed leader – was something wrong with _him_? “It wasn’t about beating you or winning or rubbing my victory in your face or anything like that. Can’t you understand there was no ulterior motive to this? It was…it was just about…seeing you again.” He said, and he dared not say any more for fear that his voice would wobble and crack and his composure would crumble and his tears would start flowing and never stop.

Even he didn’t understand why he was in this situation – Akechi was right, why did he _care_ so much? They’d infiltrated one Palace together, but Akechi’s personality during that had been barely more than a veneer disguising his true nature and he’d been working to bring about the downfall of the Phantom Thieves all the while. He’d killed Haru’s father, Futaba’s mother and countless others, he’d tried to kill Ren twice – and he was cold and cruel and distinctly unapologetic about all of those things – was Ren’s deepest desire really to wish someone like _that_ back into existence?

They’d spent time together prior to the infiltration but Ren found himself wondering how much of that had been lies too. Akechi had said that Ren was the only person he was able to be himself around and in some ways – many ways, actually – Ren felt the same. They’d clashed and competed, played billiards and shooting games and darts together, drank tea and listened to jazz and fought both against and alongside each other. Their Showtime attack was representative of how their hearts were entwined together in harmony – something Ren had never achieved with any of his other friends, save Sumire. Ren spent time with his other friends and had healed their wounds, nursed them through the tough times in their lives, helped them. Akechi and he had just…hung out. But it was true what Maruki had said – when it came to Akechi, Ren wanted nothing more than to help _him_ too – to _save_ him, like he couldn’t before.

Whether what he knew of Akechi was his true personality or another lie or partly both – he didn’t care, he wanted to know him _more_. The jazz club and their duel in Mementos had felt like true, tantalizing insights into Akechi’s character and Ren longed for more of that, for parts of his personality that Akechi had hidden away from everyone else for so long; Ren wanted Akechi to be free from the restraints of what society expected the Detective Prince to be like or what the Phantom Thieves expected Crow to be like – he wanted Akechi to just be _himself_ , and be himself _with Ren_ , with all the dizzying and enticing prospects that promised.

But Akechi had so little time left.

Ren suddenly realised that neither he nor Akechi had spoken after his outburst. It could have only been a few seconds that passed in silence, but to Ren it felt like an eternity, with Akechi’s eyes boring into his.

“If you truly...” Akechi said finally, though he hesitated, seeming to be searching for the right word, “...care…for me that much, then you must understand why I am asking this of you. I have no one else to turn to. I am done being manipulated. I wish to make a decision that is wholly my own. I don’t want to live for the sake of anyone else, not Shido, not Maruki, and not…” He hesitated, grimacing. “…not you, either. I...I’m just...” He sighed wearily. “I’m tired. I’m tired of living lie after lie. I’m tired of dancing like a puppet on a stage to the tune of someone else’s song. Let this be the final act of the Detective Prince, Goro Akechi – to take a bow.” He raised his hands as though receiving applause from some invisible crowd, strained smile on his face as he began to laugh again – a horrible, weak, choking sound.

Ren stood, quickly rounding the table to sit down next to Akechi. He reached out and grasped the older boy’s shoulder. So warm, so solid, so real – he understood this was more than a cognition but he didn’t know how far Maruki’s power went when it came to recreation and actualisation, he didn’t know how much of the person before him was what Akechi was truly like or what Ren wanted him to be like but he didn’t care, because in this moment, Akechi was real and hurting so badly it broke Ren’s heart. Ren knew that it was going to be painful – to have lost Akechi once then get him back and hold him closer and tighter than ever before and have to give him up all over again – it stung, it burned, it festered and Ren wondered if it would ever go away. But Akechi had lived with pain like that all his life, all the people who had controlled him cutting and cutting away at him until there was so little of him left. And Ren couldn’t – he _wouldn’t_ – be the one to hurt him one last time.

“Just like I said.” He smiled. “We’ll change his heart. Together.” He wrapped his arms around Akechi and hugged him tightly, pulling him close. Akechi tensed at first but quickly reciprocated, even at the awkward angle of the booth seating, Ren could feel Akechi clinging to him firmly.

“Thanks.” Akechi rasped after a moment.

“Huh?” Ren choked out, surprised at the cracked tone of Akechi’s voice. He pulled back from their embrace slightly and saw that Akechi was looking at him with such an earnest expression he felt his heart begin to flutter.

“Thank you.” Akechi repeated, a little more sure of himself. “I…I’m used to there _being_ an ulterior motive.” He said simply, eyes watering slightly. “Most, if not all, of the people in my life have used me for some reason or another. I suppose I’m just sort of…accustomed to it. My life has never…meant something to someone before.” He allowed himself a small, sly smirk, despite the wateriness of his eyes. “I should know by now that you’re different from other people in this world.”

“I get that a lot, actually.” Ren said, with a shaky laugh. Akechi chuckled at that, and Ren felt his heart begin pounding rapidly against his chest again.

Akechi suddenly looked at Ren accusingly, and Ren tensed, wondering if Akechi could hear his thundering heartbeat, but the detective gave him a wild, wide grin and said; “Well, you’ve set quite high expectations with the coffee…what other enthralling activities do you have planned for my last night alive?”

Ren allowed himself to smile back. “Well, I’m not sure if you’d call it enthralling…but I think you’ll like it just fine.”

\---

When Ren awoke, the pale golden light of dawn spilling into the room, he had half-expected there to be no one lying next to him. But as he slowly came to, he could tell Akechi was still there – the warmth of the detective’s body pressed against Ren’s, the tickle of his breath and hair on Ren’s neck, the soft little noises of his sleep – he was still here, still alive, still _real_ – and still looking so _perfect_ , his usually-immaculate hair slightly tousled (not too dissimilar to Ren’s own) and the normally sharp and stern angles of his face softened by sleep. Ren cradled him closer, burying his nose into Akechi’s hair and breathing in his scent, bringing himself as close as he could to the other boy – as close as he would ever get, suddenly painfully aware of how temporary this all was.

Akechi let out a yawn, and Ren drew back as Akechi’s eyes slowly blinked open, settling on Ren with a forlorn expression.

“It’s today.” He said, in a small, distant voice that nearly broke Ren’s heart. It hadn’t been a question, but Ren nodded slowly in confirmation.

Akechi sighed. “Pity. I rather enjoyed this.” He said thoughtfully, before smirking at Ren. “You’ve set an alarm, haven’t you? We don’t exactly need to get up _immediately_.” He said, settling his head back down on Ren’s chest with a contented hum.

Ren smiled, and began running his fingers through Akechi’s hair. He felt Akechi snake his arms around Ren’s waist and hold him close.

“We’ll be alright, won’t we?” Akechi said, in a quiet voice.

“Of course we will, Akechi.” Ren said, squeezing Akechi’s shoulder gently.

“Goro.” Akechi corrected, with a yawn. “That’s good though…I told you before…I’m the one who will defeat you. Can’t…can’t have you losing to just…some guy…” He said sleepily, before falling silent again.

Ren cuddled Akechi a little closer, watching as the backstreets begin to slowly awaken outside his window – lights flickering on, the buzz of activity beginning to start up. Inside Leblanc’s attic there was only the sound of their breathing, and the occasional sigh from Akechi. The comfortable silence they had now couldn’t last forever but for now, this moment was enough.

And as they both lay there, holding each other close, they both tried not to think about how soon they would have to let each other go.


End file.
